


Sweet Danger

by HyperMint



Series: Summer Contacts [11]
Category: Harry Potter - Fandom, NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles
Genre: Companion Piece, Conspiracy, Deleted Scenes, Diabetic Character, Friendship, Gen, Implication of Past Discrimination
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-07
Updated: 2016-07-25
Packaged: 2018-06-04 23:05:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6679066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HyperMint/pseuds/HyperMint
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony, Deeks, Mac and Palmer have a serious issue to discuss.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Discussion and Plan

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Cycles of Life](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4188018) by [HyperMint](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HyperMint/pseuds/HyperMint). 



> I had a review for 'Sixth Year' reminding me about Palmer's diabetic condition and I started thinking about it. This is pretty much what I came up with. I will go more into this in a future story and I really hope I can pull it off. 
> 
> This is a deleted scene during Chapter 15 of 'Cycles' and the reception.
> 
> Disclaimer: The world of JK Rowling and recognizable characters are not mine, even though Diabetes is a real condition and the discrimination concerning said condition might be a little over-exaggerated in order to fit the universe.

Deeks laid back on Ron’s bed as Tony paced the small area in front of him.

Palmer was on his left and Mac was watching from his right, all three pairs of eyes tracking Tony as he went.

“Well,” Mac finally broke the silence. “It’s been a good meeting.”

“Yeah,” Deeks eyed the agitated Italian as he ran his fingers through his short brown hair.

All four were in Ron’s room, Tony having sent them all up there after getting the kids out the door, though three of them still weren’t entirely sure why.

“Okay,” Tony finally stopped and faced them, hair in disarray as he surveyed them. “We have a problem.”

Deeks looked from Mac to Palmer, but they also didn’t seem to understand the solemn tone. It was like Tony was telling them something urgent, but Deeks didn’t get it and the other two didn’t get it, either.

“And I’m sure it’s nothing we can’t handle,” Mac nodded. “I have to ask what, exactly, the problem is, though.”

Tony sighed. “Well,” he rubbed his mouth, “Fleur’s family has a wedding tradition. Each bride of the family is required to make a drink. One that has… excessive amounts of sugar.”

Deeks winced as he imagined kids bouncing off the walls. “So? Just limit what the kids get,” he shrugged. “We have some influence on them, after all.”

A glance at Mac and Palmer, however, told him that something was flying over his head.

Palmer looked sort of pale as Mac just sighed and rubbed her forehead.

“And I looked into it,” Tony nodded in silent agreement. “Everyone who is about seventeen and up has to drink at least three cups of this thing for the marriage to have good luck. No exceptions.”

Deeks tilted his head. “Okay. I may need a side drink to help me get through it, but I should be alright…” After racing around for a few hours. On the other hand, of course, sometimes the sugar made him sleepy.

“No, Deeks,” Mac smiled gave him a slight smile, brown eyes worried. “It’s Palmer. He’s diabetic.”

…

Okay, obviously there was something going on that he wasn’t getting.

“I may not know everything that goes on in the Magical world, but I do know there’s supposed to be potions to help with that sort of thing, right?” he shrugged.

“There are,” Mac nodded, “but there are some ingredients in the common ones that doesn’t sit well with Palmer. We have to get it custom made.”

“Unfortunately,” Tony added, rubbing his mouth, “the guy we go to hasn’t been able to brew it and there’s a process we go through in order to get the next person, but she’s down with the flu and there’s no one else. Plus, it takes two and a half months to actually get ingredients together and to make it anyway, so…”

“Why don’t you just tell Fleur that Palmer can’t drink it?” Deeks waved a hand. Surely it couldn’t be that difficult? “I mean, all you have to do is say something and they should understand.”

“It’s not that easy,” Palmer shook his head, rubbing a hand over his curly hair. “You don’t know because you haven’t lived in the Magical world for long enough to find out, but diabetic Wizards and Witches just…”

“There’s not many of them,” Mac picked up. “And, sure, Honeyduke’s has a line of treats for the diabetics, but others can eat them, too. Palmer needs to have a certain potion that not many can make – kind of like Wolfsbane -, but there’s always been this belief that diabetic Magic folk are more Muggle than Pure. There’s a discrimination against them that you really just have to experience for yourself. It doesn’t do anything justice unless you experience it with your own eyes.”

Mac and Tony both had that look that said that they had.

Palmer looked guiltily at them, which earned him reassuring smiles in response.

Deeks had not felt as distanced from the other three than he did in that moment. There was just a history there that he didn’t have and he bet the kids didn’t, either.

It was kind of daunting, the fact that he would have to dig through all that to find a connection with them.

“Okay,” Deeks simply nodded, making a mental note to ask Lyn later. “So, what are we going to do about it?”

“I did, however,” Tony looked relieved to find a new subject, “find a loophole. Deeks can get a water on the side as long as he can drink three cups of this drink. Now, that means that every cup has to have drunk from it three cups’ worth of drink. It is not going to matter who does the drinking. Now, I propose that me, Mac and Deeks take over drinking it while Palmer can drink the water. As long as his portion has been drunk, there should not be a problem.”

“I can do that,” Deeks nodded. He didn’t need the water all the time, so sure. Musical cups? Not a problem.

“But won’t someone know I’m not drinking?” Palmer fretted, wringing his hands as Mac started grinning.

“We’ll just have to make it _look_ like you’re drinking it,” she assured. “And Tony can take care of that.”

“Deeks,” Tony turned to him. “All you would really need to do is to help drink it and give up some of your water.”

“I’m game,” he assured. He didn’t have the pre-programmed discrimination toward Palmer, so that wasn’t going to be an issue. The trick would be to drink everything without anyone being the wiser. “Don’t worry, Palmer,” he smiled at him. “No one’s going to know unless we want them to.”

“But,” Mac pointed out. “This means that the three of us,” she gestured to Tony, Deeks and herself, “are going to also have to drink our own.”

“We can handle it.”

Palmer didn’t look so sure.

“Of course we can,” Mac agreed.

Tony wrapped an arm around Palmer’s shoulders. “Don’t worry so much, Autopsy Gremlin,” he grinned widely. “We got this.”

** *


	2. Operation Switch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The reception

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please read Chapter 17 of 'Summer Contacts' first, please!
> 
> Here's the last chapter. Enjoy.

It was a nice night, Mac looked up at the stars shining past the lights strung up around them.

The chairs on either end of the table stood empty and Mac wondered what their neighbors would be like.

She would certainly find out tomorrow.

“Alright,” Tony rubbed his hands together. “Everyone ready?”

“I hope so,” Palmer still didn’t look convinced, but he got himself ready nonetheless.

She and Deeks both nodded and exchanged looks.

“From what I understand,” Mac leaned forward and lowered her voice. “The speeches have to come before the food. We can start drinking after the first toast of the night.”

She’d heard that from Mrs. Weasley herself the day before.

“They can take their time, as far as I’m concerned,” Deeks sighed, looking around.

Mac glanced to her left to see the Trio and assorted friends talking amongst themselves.

They were really good kids, she reflected, settling in as others streamed in to the area.

When she’d heard that Tony had met the famous Mr. Harry Potter, well, she didn’t know what to think.

Not all famous rich kids were spoiled and she’d been lucky enough to actually meet a few of them in her time. She had, of course, read the articles and wondered if the kid was anything like what had been said of him or if the media had blown it all out of proportion like they were wont to do even at the best of times.

After Tony’s trip to the Quidditch World Cup, however, she started thinking that maybe it was the media after all.

Tony had met the others of the infamous Trio and had seemed enamored with them. He didn’t normally do that with just any three kids, so maybe there was something there.

When Tony had disappeared entirely, however, she’d been worried, sure, but Tony had taken care of himself in tighter spots and she’d not doubted his abilities there either.

Then she started investigating with Palmer a little more and they soon really started worrying. Actually meeting the Trio and having to lie to their faces was something that unsettled her even now, after apologizing in the Hospital Wing and earning their forgiveness.

Now that she’d spent time with them, she was really glad to be friends with them and that she had been wrong with her initial assumptions.

“Okay,” Deeks watched as seats filled. “I think speeches are going to be soon…”

“Calm down,” Mac smiled slightly as she squeezed his arm. “You won’t mess anything up.”

“I’m trying.”

“Mind trying a little harder?” Tony said drily, not looking that steady himself.

“You, too, Tony,” Mac beamed at him.

Speaking of initial assumptions, hers about Tony were completely wrong.

And she was more than glad of that since a lot of things had happened between now and then that she doubted she would have gotten out of without him.

Her brown eyes tracked over to Palmer, who was trying to calm Tony and Deeks – and seemed to be making it worse -, and simply smiled.

Palmer had been a wonderful addition to their little magical group, of which only she, Tony and ‘Fred’ Stevens were the main members until the Pureblood diabetic arrived.

Deeks was yet another new arrival that she looked forward to getting to know. She felt that he needed more magical friends even without Tony having to tell her, which was even stronger when the blond would shyly hesitate before saying anything to them.

Not the kids, the _adults_.

And Mac knew that meant that this was one Muggleborn she would have to tuck carefully under her wing. She didn’t have a lot of Muggleborn friends, but she had plenty of Muggle ones. Hermione was Muggleborn, so it was good to see the pair interacting with each other over the course of the last week.

Baby steps.

Headmaster Dumbledore called everyone’s attention as everyone gathered for dinner.

“Welcome, family and friends,” he smiled warmly at them as he stood in front of the happy couple. “I am Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts and a personal friend of the family. Allow me to introduce Bill Weasley and his wife to be, Fleur Delacour!”

Cheers and applause greeted his words and he let them be for a moment before they settled down.

“Now, we are all gathered here tonight to not only partake in the deliciously diverse menu ahead, but to also reflect upon our own happiness and join the Weasley and Delacour families in celebrating their own which they have graciously invited us into their homes and lives to do so.” A smattering of applause accompanied him, Mac and the boys clapping the loudest since they had only been invited through their friendship with the Trio.

“I am well aware,” he waited for silence, “that most of us are not students and would actually like to be fed before dawn,” chuckles could be heard from the crowd, “so I will keep this brief. Tonight is a night of reflection before the day of celebration. I urge all of you – each and every one of us here – to use this night to cast from your minds worries that will have no place during tomorrow’s celebration of happiness in this cycle we find ourselves in. The cycles of life are birth,” he peered over his half-moon spectacles at Harry – presumably because of his upcoming seventeenth birthday -, “marriage, and death. It would do us all well to find every ounce of happiness as we go along from birth until marriage, where we then find a significant other to share our happiness with until our …”

Here, he paused.

Mac could see why.

Having spent the last week in Britain, she had noted several instances of Death Eater activity in the _Prophet_ and many of the Brits here doubtless had the same thoughts.

“The next great adventure,” Harry blurted, going red as all turned to him and Mac could pick out whispers and comments breaking out amongst a number of guests.

“Ah, yes,” Dumbledore smiled warmly at him. “I see that some of us still remember the words of old men,” he chuckled.

Mac, Deeks and Palmer looked at Tony, who grinned. “Something he told Harry in First Year,” he explained.

“Oh,” they nodded before turning their attention back to Dumbledore.

“In closing,” he continued. “I invite you all to join me in wishing our newly formed couple every happiness in the world until, as young Harry has said, ‘the next great adventure.’ Even then, it is our sincerest hope that they find the peace that only being together will bring.”

He spread his arms and the crowd cheered and clapped – Deeks, the Weasley Twins, the Twins’ friend Lee Jordan, as well as a few others, letting out whistles – and let Charlie take the floor.

The best man gamely stood and walked to where Dumbledore indicated, starting off light with an anecdote about something that happened when they were kids. The tone changed to a more somber one and the speech came to an end when Bill jumped the table and tackled his younger brother to cheers.

The twins immediately jumped on them and Ron and Ginny were eventually dragged into the hug amidst overwhelming approval.

“Tony,” a beaming Mac turned to see Palmer lean closer to the Italian. “I thought there was a sixth boy.”

“Palmer,” he wrapped an arm around his shoulders companionably as Deeks turned away from the Weasley pile to hear the answer. “My good friend Palmer. You know how we _never_ talk about Ziva’s half-brother?”

That was a minefield that even Mac hesitated to tramp in. She slowly shook her head at Deeks’ questioning look.

“Uh. Yes. Why?”

“Let’s just say that thinking of Percy like we would _him_ may appeal to half of the family if only that were true.”

Palmer stared for a moment before blinking. “Percy killed someone? _Ow_ ,” he rubbed the back of his head as Tony huffed.

“No, but he may as well have.”

“Bad terms, huh?” Deeks winced.

“To say the least,” he muttered, green eyes watching the siblings slowly pull apart. “It got worse when Percy denounced Harry as a liar.”

 _That_ made sense.

“I’ve seen people killed over less,” Deeks shrugged as Tony nodded.

They knew more than Mac and Palmer did, being the cops of the group.

Their ‘blue drink’ goblets started filling when Charlie raised his.

“To Bill and Fleur!” he cried, the crowd echoing as they lifted theirs.

“Okay, now,” Tony drank a good level of his before sliding it over and exchanging Palmer’s for his.

Palmer only looked like he drank some and even gave a convincing cough. “Strong stuff,” he gratefully took Mac’s offered water.

Taking a drink herself, she swished it in her mouth and shrugged. “Tastes a lot better than other stuff I’ve had,” she mused. It was. There was an eggnog quality to it that she wasn’t able to pin down.

It was good, though too sweet for long periods of time.

This was what they had to drink so much of.

She sighed in resignation.

“Not bad, really,” Deeks smiled. “I’ll probably need a lot more water.”

Before anything else was said, Mr. Delacour stood to make his own speech with heavily accented English.

About three speeches later, Mac was pretty sure she now knew more than she wanted to about both bride and groom’s respective childhoods.

“Can we please fast forward this to the good stuff?” Deeks groaned as yet another speech began. “As in food?”

Tony took another mouthful of his blue drink and Mac did, too, after a moment.

So far, the plan was working without a hitch.

Together, she, Deeks and Tony had managed to drink about a cup and a half of Palmer’s drink and almost a third of their own.

Mac was going to give it another third before she put her foot down and made them wait until the food got here.

Thankfully, however, it was over in short order and she had to laugh as Deeks tucked his napkin into his shirt in preparation for the food.

And the food was about to come out.

Except –

“Excuse me,” Ron stood before his mum did. “I… uh, would like to say a few words.”

“Must be that Gryffindor courage,” she mused, settling in to listen.

Grumbling about being kept from eating, Deeks also settled in, Tony and Palmer listening with ears open.

Ron gulped as everyone looked at him, everyone who knew him surprised that he would speak, but he soon gathered his courage and straightened with his ‘blue drink’ cup in hand.

“First, I want to say… Thank you. For being here for my brother, Bill, and my new sister, Fleur,” he smiled over at them before returning his attention to the crowd. After a moment, he continued, “I know that I’m probably too young to think about marriage, but… You know… things may happen and I could find myself married sooner than I thought.”

“To who?” one of the twins called out. “Hermione?”

“No!”

His twin shrugged, “Harry?”

Ron didn’t deem to answer that.

Ears red, he went on.

“I would like to think that I will make a good husband – to _whoever_ I decide to marry – and I can only look to my dad and Bill for examples of that. In the here and now, however, I’m not thinking of marrying anyone, but I am thinking that the first step to being a good husband is to be a good friend.” Here, he looked at Harry, Hermione and Tony in turn. “I have three wonderful friends that any wizard would be lucky to have and I lucked out three times. Harry, who I can go to with almost anything and not be laughed at, Hermione, who I can go to for almost all the rest, and Tony, who has somehow decided that I was worth his time. This kid who wasn’t famous or always got top grades in every class. Me. Hermione could have picked other friends just as smart as her, but she didn’t. And Harry?” he smiled slightly. “Did you know that I’m his first best friend? I know it may not seem like a lot, but I take pride in that. Yeah, I was a traitor in Fourth Year after everything else we’d been through and I have a feeling I will never stop apologizing for that, even if I’ve already been forgiven, but Harry and Hermione – and to a lesser extent, Tony – are still my friends. What in Merlin’s name have I done to deserve them?

“I don’t know how to keep saying that I’m sorry for what I’ve done – or will do in the future -, but,” he spoke to the three directly now, “I just wanted you three to know that I will be sorry that I hurt you again. For as long as our friendship lasts – which, Merlin willing, will last the rest of our lives -, I want you to know that I have never had such close friends stick with me as long as you have. We’ll probably make more friends as our lives march toward Harry’s ‘next great adventure’, but I hope we’ll be even closer when it comes time to take that first step. Just like I hope that Bill and Fleur will be the best of friends through thick and thin. You only have one life, Bill,” he turned to see his oldest brother wiping his eyes as Fleur looked upon him with eyes filled with unshed tears. “It’s been my experience that true friends are hard to find and are even harder to keep. It’s okay if you decide that you need other best friends, but Fleur should always be one of them. It’s okay if one of you should hurt the other, but always remember to be honest about it afterward and talk to each other. Don’t be like some of the friends I’ve heard about, who only use someone as a means to an end and not bother apologizing for it.”

Mac slowly turned to look at Tony, who looked a bit too innocent for that to be coincidence.

“What I mean is,” Ron took a deep breath. “Marriage is good and all, but it’ll never get very far if you aren’t friends first. So… Bill, get to know Fleur to the point where you can read her mind. Do that and you won’t regret a thing.”

Mac watched with misty eyes as he toasted his brother and slunk back to his chair, where Hermione hugged him tight before returning to her seat. “I think,” she smiled at her three friends as they wiped their eyes. “That’s my favorite one yet.”

“I think so, too,” Deeks smiled back.

Tony had a brilliant smile on his face that Mac had rarely seen as the years at NCIS took their toll on him. This was the kind of thing that made her wonder just how much the team showed him how much they valued him as their friend and that made her sad.

But this was not the night to be sad.

Composing herself with a sip of blue, she joined the cheers that broke out when the food appeared.

“Looks like we weren’t the only ones hungry,” Palmer laughed at the sheepish looks on some faces and unrepentant looks on others. Namely the twins.

“Okay,” Deeks rubbed his hands together as they looked at the food that appeared in front of them. “Let’s see what we’ve got here.”

French and British dishes all looked and smelled incredible and Mac was practically drooling as she caught sight of her favorite French food.

Tony just pushed the whole dish at her and grabbed some British food for himself.

Palmer looked just as confused as Deeks and, between them, Tony and Mac guided them to the ones that they would like.

“I’m not sure what this is,” Deeks stuffed a bit of some kind of flavored French bread into his mouth, “but ‘s good.”

The blue drinks were starting to get to their heads as the night went on and they drank more of it.

“Hey,” Deeks looked up from his soup. “You know the speech Ron said? Well,” he grinned. “Sounded like he wanted to marry one of the three of you,” he told Tony.

“Don’t tell Sadie,” Mac snickered behind her hand as she pointed her fork at him, speaking of a model that worked for – sorry, with – one of Tony’s neighbors. “As far as she’s concerned, Tony and Palmer’s been together since they locked eyes in the elevator of NCIS!”

The sugar made it funnier than it actually was, so the three burst out laughing – much to Palmer’s amusement.

“I think we’re getting looks,” he mused, glancing around and waving at Ginny as she glanced over.

“We’re Americans,” Tony waved him off with a laugh. “We’re already supposed to be crazy!”

That set them off again.

** *

It was like that all night.

The more his friends drank, the more easily amused they became.

Palmer was just glad that they only now had the drink their own cups, the limit on his being reached in short order and the danger passed.

He couldn’t help smiling slightly as he watched them act like kids as they chattered freely and laughed easily. All thanks to the sugar they drank on his behalf.

Palmer sighed as he ducked his head to stare at his almost empty plate.

Being a diabetic Pureblood was far from easy, though he had had the good fortune to have an understanding family.

From what he’d understood, some extended relatives had had either the first type or the second, but his family hadn’t actually expected him to get it.

That was alright, though.

Now that he had friends like these three, he would sometimes pinch himself to be sure that he wasn’t dreaming.

As it usually did, thoughts of dreaming led to thoughts of Tony’s friend Eames and Palmer felt the smile across his face.

To be honest, he couldn’t remember when the blond Brit started coming around, but Palmer always found that he felt better when the blond dropped by. Some of that fondness was for himself, of course, but a lot more was a result by the positive mood he would leave Tony in when he left.

The Brit was about as protective of Tony as Palmer, Mac and the Trio were.

Palmer wasn’t sure how that came about, but he’d been more than grateful as it looked like Tony would be on the edge and Eames – with that ‘Tony-radar’ some joked that he had – would show up like he’d been summoned to diffuse the Italian before it got too much.

Lately, Tony hadn’t really needed him that much since he’d met up with the Trio and Palmer had found himself adoring the kids for that reason alone.

But, seeing Eames was always a treat for Tony, Palmer, Mac and the few others they counted as friends in the MNP.

Palmer just hoped that Eames got something positive out of his visits, too. It couldn’t be a one-way thing, after all.

“What’s that smile for?” Deeks brought him out of his thoughts.

“Oh,” Mac waved a hand. “That’s an Eames smile.”

“Huh?”

“An old friend of mine,” Tony nudged Palmer’s arm. “He just can’t help himself when he comes by to visit. Always dragging two or more of us off on these ridiculous errands and then he gets us and him side-tracked enough to forget what we originally came for.”

“And you guys have an ‘Eames smile’?” Deeks peered at them.

“You will, too,” Tony assured, “after two of his ‘just popping down the street, be back in two shakes’ trips. Nut that he is.” He smiled slightly.

“Tony’s got his Eames smile on right now,” Mac teased.

“As if you don’t.”

That dissolved into a story about Mac and Eames disappearing off the radar about a month before Palmer’s arrival at NCIS.

It went into yet another story – this time from Deeks – about a Muggle case he worked before he took up with Special Operations and that ran the rest of the dinner and all through dessert, which wasn’t as sweet in deference to the blue drinks.

By the time dinner wrapped up, his three friends were vibrating with energy, so Palmer suggested they head out for the orchard so they could burn the sugar off.

Everyone else started packing up as Dumbledore said some words in closing.

Palmer looked up to see the Trio heading for them. “Hey, guys. I’m just going to let them run off the sugar,” he explained, gesturing toward the other three that had their heads together a short distance away.

“Sounds like a good idea,” Harry eyed them in amusement. “But what about you?” he wanted to know.

“Diluted blue drink,” he saluted him with a water glass. “All that sugar needs to be flushed somehow.”

“I would get that from Tony or Deeks,” Hermione admitted, “but Mac?”

“They aren’t actually all that different,” Palmer lifted a shoulder. He remembered being just as astonished when he first saw Tony and Mac interacting with each other and how they just seemed to click. Then he actually got to know Mac and laughed at himself for being so surprised.

Some of the kids dragged the trio off, so Palmer didn’t think they needed to stick around. His three friends were more than happy to race off, not giving him a second thought.

He was content to hang out on the sidelines and watch them have fun. Abby more than once poked fun at his ‘living vicariously’ motto in life.

And maybe he was.

But you know, he got some of the side benefits, too.

He got to observe Deeks as he interacted with the others and came up with a plan to interact with him based on what he saw; he watched Mac and encouraged the latent investigative tendencies she still pretended that she didn’t have; he got to see the actions around Tony and the way the team treated him, which he hadn’t really recognized until…a time that was best left forgotten.

It still kind of shamed him to think that he could have prevented some of the damage done to his friend and he missed his chance. But it had been a good day and night, so he kept this thoughts to the brighter side of friendship and watched his three friends race around.

Barking heralded Padfoot’s arrival and Agent barked back after having changed between heartbeats. Mac’s own Animagus form, a chocolate brown medium haired ‘tabby’ cat, appeared before dashing up a nearby tree.

Palmer was astonished when _Deeks_ turned, too. He was a bit of a tall dog with blond curly hair and playful bluish eyes, not even stopping before barreling into both black dogs with a joyous bark.

He was vaguely aware of his mouth hanging open for a time before he started laughing at himself. He’d never been interested in becoming an Animagus nor saw the need for it, but it looked like he had illegal Animagi for friends.

Deeks, though, looked like he was having the time of his life as he, Agent and Padfoot rolled around on the grass. He probably was, now that Palmer thought of it, thanks to decades of bullying by other wizarding folk. Some of them probably Muggleborn themselves, which really hit Palmer hard when he hit upon the idea that they didn’t want the problems that Deeks was having on themselves.

That really made him even more motivated to keep tabs on Deeks, to show that the summer atmosphere of fun wasn’t just limited to the Burrow and that they could continue having fun past this summer and that their new friendship wasn’t just a result of the summer.

“Palmer?” Ginny suddenly appeared off to his left, Neville and the Trio following her, all probably drawn to the barking coming from the dogs running around their immediate perimeter. “What’s going on?”

“Just burning off some energy, like I told you,” Palmer grinned.

Unsurprisingly, Harry spied Padfoot first and was about to say something when he caught sight of Agent, too, chasing Deeks and a confused expression crossed his face.

“Bloody hell!” Ron suddenly yelped when Mac pounced on him from a branch hanging overhead. She managed to sit on his shoulder and puff herself out proudly.

“ _Mrow_ ,” she announced.

“Where did you come from!”

“I don’t remember this cat,” Hermione slowly reached out to pet her.

“Mac,” Palmer grinned.

“Oh, this is her cat? I didn’t know she had one.”

“No, I mean this is Mac.”

He started laughing at the double takes all five of them gave the cat, who washed her face almost innocently.

Deeks came over to check them out as the other two followed and Palmer ended up on the grass in mirth as the kids’ eyes got even wider.

“Is that _Deeks_?” Harry gawped.

“Yeah,” Palmer gasped, wiping his eyes. “Yeah, it is. Surprise.”

The barks and meow seemed to echo him and that set him off again, the others beginning to smile as Mac spring boarded off Ron’s shoulder to run rings around them.

Palmer lay back on the grass to see the stars high above him and smiled to himself as the kids started laughing at their friends’ antics, none the wiser as to the sweet danger that had threatened him.

He was so lucky that he had two – now, three – friends to help him when he needed them, although he was sorry that his two friends had had to deal with so much because of him.

But friendship had never claimed to be easy and Palmer was glad they stuck with him through it.

And Merlin willing, he do the same in the future.

Because now that the danger had passed, his future looked sweet, indeed.

**_End_ **


End file.
